On Wednesday, Sep. 25, students from schools across America and in many other nations will gather to pray. This year marks the 23nd anniversary for See You at the Pole (SYATP), a student-initiated and student-led Prayer movement that started in Burleson, Texas, in 1990.
This year’s event, however, will involve more than just one day. SYATP has been expanded to Global Student Prayer Week, Sep. 22-28, 2013.
The theme for SYATP 2013 is #IFthen, taken from 2 Chronicles 7:14: IF the people of God pray, seek, turn. THEN God hears, forgives, heals.
The Annual Global Day of Student Prayer revolves around students praying together on the fourth Wednesday of September at 7 a.m. local time, usually at the school’s flagpole.
SYATP involves students in elementary schools, middle/junior high schools, high schools, and colleges/universities all over the world, coming together to intercede for their leaders, schools, and families, asking God to bring moral and spiritual healing to their respective campuses and countries.
A press release from the organization relates that the movement began when a small group of teenagers in the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson, Texas came together to pray, Feeling compelled to pray, the group drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. Eventually their efforts caught fire, resulting in not only a national gathering of youth but an international movement as well.
The initial vision was that students throughout Texas would follow these examples and meet at their school flagpoles to pray simultaneously. The challenge was named See You at the Pole™ at a brainstorming session during a meeting of key youth leaders. The vision was shared with 20,000 students in June 1990 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.
On Sep. 11, 1991, at 7 a.m., an estimated one million students gathered at school flagpoles all over the country. Since 1991, See You at the Pole™ has grown considerably. Within the first few years, the movement began to spread to other nations through missionaries from the U.S. Now each year, more than three million students from all over the world participate in the Annual Global Day of Prayer. Students in more than 20 countries now take part.
What began as a small flame that ignited a passionate desire among students in Texas to pray for their school and those connected to them, soon inflamed into an even greater passion to pray among youth around the world. SYTAP has grown to become an important part of an ever-growing national and international movement of prayer among young people.
The accompanying video “See You at the Pole 2013: Hear from Heaven” introduces the Global Student Prayer Week and SYATP.
Click here to read a related article discussing students and their religious rights.
